


I Know Forever Don't Exist

by ErikaWilliams



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriages, Camping, Car Sex, Casual Sex, Chocobo Ranch Ending, Chocobos, Destrutive Behavior, Doomed Relationships, Eventual Happy Ending, First Time, Flashbacks, Gladio Makes Bad Decisions, Infidelity, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mention of Prompto/Cindy, Mention of Prompto/Iris, Mentions of Gladio/Others, Morning After, Post Game, Rebuilding After the Apocalypse, Snuggling, Spoilers, Talking About Relationships, fancy parties, pain and suffering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:00:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13650984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaWilliams/pseuds/ErikaWilliams
Summary: At the end of everything, Prompto starts a chocobo ranch as he tries to pick up the pieces of his new life.  While Prompto is breeding and raising chocobos for a mounted guard force for the local cities, Gladio is back in Insomnia, training new recruits and dealing with the fallout.  But the past, the good, the bad, and everything in between, has a way of catching up with both of them.





	1. Chapter 1

_Prompto never quite understood the dichotomy of how something could be so sublimely perfect and so terribly wrong at the same time before he awoke that morning and felt the weight of both of them pressing down on him at the same time. He was in a bed, which had been a rare treat for quite a long time, and there were four standing walls around him. He was nestled in the crook of Gladio’s arm, his nose pressed against Gladio’s neck. For a moment, he just wanted to keep his eyes closed and inhale Gladio’s musky scent. If he kept his eyes closed and blocked everything else out, he could still pretend they were still in his parent’s apartment when they had gone out for the weekend, laying in the bed that had always been too small for Gladio. Just inhale, and stay trapped in that moment forever._

 

_Gladio stirred lightly in his sleep, his hand brushing against the bandage on Prompto’s back, and the actual weight of reality swept away any warm fuzzy feelings that had been spreading. That bedroom was long gone, the whole building destroyed ten years ago when the Empire had come. They weren’t the same as they had been back then, too much had changed between them for things to ever go back the way they had been before._

 

_Worst of all, Noct was gone. For good this time. There would be no return this time. He would have to face this morning and every morning after this with the knowledge that he would never see his best friend again. Gladio would return to his girlfriend, and the two of them would get married and make beautiful children together. Ignis probably had some sort of plan for his future. He had no idea where he was supposed to fit into this new world. Ignis would probably appreciate the help in rebuilding the city, but Gladio would be there, and so would Mrs. Gladio. He tightened his grip around Gladio’s middle, and buried his face further against his neck, unwilling to let his moment go. It was probably going to be the last time Gladio was going to be his. Not that he had ever been able to claim that for himself, but sometimes in the middle of the night, he used to pretend that the two of them could just go on like they always had. Like Noct and Gladio and Ignis didn’t have other obligations that were more important than whatever they might want._

 

_He heard a faint musical tone and deduced that it had to be Gladio’s phone. Like he didn’t know who that would be calling him so early in the morning. Even when she wasn’t around, it seemed like he was not allowed to forget about Gladio’s girlfriend, the person Gladio could actually be with. Gladio woke under him and started groping around with his free hand for his phone._

 

_Prompto rolled over so that his back was to Gladio, which left him staring at the green, peeling wallpaper while he buried his nose in a pillow that had peaked over a decade ago. He supposed Ignis’ requirements when he had been procuring a hotel for them had consisted solely of “still standing.” He was just trying to give Gladio some privacy while Gladio answered his phone. It might be easier for Gladio to talk to her if he pretended to be as small and as unobtrusive as possible._

 

_He just wished Gladio would answer it so he wouldn’t have to listen to its accusatory buzzing anymore. Gladio needed to answer, make up whatever excuse he thought was best, slap him on the ass and make his way back to his girlfriend. The sooner Gladio got on with it, the sooner Prompto could stop pretending that he had rolled away for Gladio’s sake, and not because he couldn’t bear to watch Gladio walk away._

 

_The phone stopped ringing, and Prompto felt the bed shift behind him. He didn’t hear Gladio talking to anyone, but instead heard the soft clink of the phone being placed on the beside table._

 

“ _She doesn’t need me right now,” Gladio said as the bed shifted again, and Gladio’s warmth pressed firmly against his back._

 

“ _I don’t need you either, Big Guy,” he said, willing himself to stay on his side instead of turning in his embrace. He kept himself perfectly still, tensing his muscles and trying to turn further into the cold, uneven mattress. It would only complicate things further than they already were. He need to stay strong, to combat some of the pain when Gladio walked away. Because Gladio would walk away. He had always told him he would leave someday, to marry some acceptable woman and carry on the family name. It had always been the inevitable conclusion to their relationship._

 

“ _Never said that you did,” Gladio said lowly before planting a series of kisses along his shoulders. Each kiss was like a brand, marking his skin in a way he would never be able to scrub away. Gladio’s free hand found its way to his waist, his thumb moving in small circles along his side._

 

_This had been a mistake. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the way his body was reacting to Gladio’s feather light kisses along his neck. He had had a clean break, or at least one with some amount of closure. But then Noct had come back, and it was off to save the world time again. Gladio’s hand trailed towards the center of his back before slowly tracing a line down his spine. Then Noct had died and he had just wanted something, anything, to feel the way it had before._

 

_Gladio’s hand continued its journey down his back, and Prompto let out an undignified yelp when Gladio slipped a finger inside him. “Hey, give a guy a little warning next time,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder, and he knew instantly he had made a mistake. He never should have looked at Gladio, because once he did, he wanted nothing more than to lock the door and keep him in that hotel room with him forever. He sighed heavily as he turned his head back into the mattress._

 

_There would be no next time. This was the last time Gladio would ever hold him, would ever touch him like that._

 

“ _This is your warning,” Gladio growled lowly in his ear, and he shuddered at the hidden promise in his words. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Gladio was supposed to have left by now, not lavish this sort of attention on him. Like they had all the time in the world, like neither one of them had any other obligations to get to. There was a city to rebuild, pieces that needed put back together. Gladio nuzzled at the back of his neck. “Relax, Prompto, I’ve got you.”_

 

_That was the whole problem, though, wasn’t it? Gladio always knew how to make him come completely undone. His long fingers knew how to hit just the right spot. He tried to fight it, to not give in again, because if he gave in now, he would never be able to stand watching him walk away._

 

“ _Prompto,” Gladio said, curling the arm underneath him so his hand was cradling his head, fingers threading through his hair. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”_

 

_He keened against Gladio’s hand before placing an open mouthed kiss against his palm._

 

“ _I’ve got you,” Gladio whispered again against the back of his head. “I’ve got you.”_

 

_*~*~*_

 

The fish just weren’t biting. Or maybe he was just no good at this. Prompto looked at the lure sitting perfectly still in the water, like it had been for the past six hours. Maybe it had been even longer. He was starting to lose track of time, even though his rumbling stomach told him it was well past time he should have eaten. He only had a couple cans and bags of food left though, so he needed to learn how to get food for himself, starve, or go crawling for help somewhere. Not that he was sure where he would go. He couldn’t go back to Insomnia, not with Gladio and Ignis both there. He sighed and leaned against the chocobo behind him. He should have paid more attention to how Noct had done this, or asked him for lessons while he had the chance.

 

“You guys are lucky,” he said to the chocobos surrounding him. “You can find food just about anywhere.” He hadn’t wanted all four chocobos. He had only asked Wiz for the one to help him get wherever it was he was going. Wiz wouldn’t hear of it and insisted that he take all four. Said it wouldn’t be right for them to be separated after all this time. He looked away from his line to find two of the other chocobos pulling foliage from one of the lower tree branches. The fourth one was pacing a little bit away, head up and alert like he was guarding the rest of them. So now he had four chocobos, nothing to call them by because he had never bothered to ask his friends what they had called them, and no one to help him watch them.

 

He pulled his line back in and recast it. Maybe this time he would get lucky and it would land directly on a fish. His phone buzzed in the bag next to him, distracting him from the ignored lure. The battery wasn’t going to last much longer, and it had been a while since he had a decent hotel stay. He had been charging his phone at the various shops and diners he stopped at, but once he stopped buying, they had stopped being obliging in letting him use their outlets. He hadn’t even known he could get reception out here. This might be the last chance he had to beg someone for assistance. To take pity on him and give him food and shelter and maybe some gil. At the very least, he should see who was trying to get ahold of him.

 

He dropped the rod on the dock a minute to rustle about in the bag until he emerged victorious with his phone. It was Ignis. He pulled the phone closer, thumb hovering over the accept call button. This was the fifth call he had received from Ignis in the last three days, and he had lost track of how many he had gotten from Ignis since he had left Insomnia. He hadn’t received a single call from Gladio since then. Not that he expected anything else from the Big Guy. Not after the way they had left things. He fully expected to die before he heard from him again. He owed Ignis an explanation, if nothing else. He doubted Gladio would have told him everything.

 

Before he could take the plunge and push that button, his phone battery died and the screen blinked off. Great. Just perfect. He had no friends, no money, no food, and now no phone. He only barely restrained from chucking the phone into the water and instead shoved it back into the recesses of his bag. Cindy might be willing to take pity on him, but even with the chocobos, he would never make it to Hammerhead alive. The chocobos might drag his corpse the rest of the way for him. Aranea moved around so much it would be impossible to get a hold of her without his phone. He might be able to make it to Lestallum. Iris was still there. She would definitely take pity on him. It wasn’t in her nature to turn away those in need. Then again, Gladio might be there visiting her. He couldn’t see Gladio right now. He blinked away tears and tried to pretend that the hollow ache in his chest was caused by hunger. He had come out there to forget about Gladio, not to think about him at every turn.

 

“Hey, Behemoth’s Ass!” he called to the ever vigilant chocobo behind him. The name seemed appropriate and came to him easily enough. “You’re always trying to bite things. Why don’t you get in this pond and kill me a fish?”

 

The chocobo halted in its pacing and turned its head to look straight at him. Like he had made it angry or something. Too late he wondered if the other birds would defend him from one of their own.

 

The chocobo kwehed before it turned and took off in the opposite direction. So much for not separating the birds. Even if Wiz didn’t want them back, he would be disappointed if he found out Prompto had lost one of them. Because he had insulted it, of all things.

 

“Hey, wait!” he called after it as he scrambled to his feet. “I didn’t mean it!” He hopped on the nearest standing chocobo and turned it in the direction the other one had gone. “Come on,” he urged, letting the chocobo take the lead, “we have to get your buddy back.” He could come back for his stuff later. Not like anyone else was stupid enough to be out that far. There wasn’t really anything in there he was concerned with losing. A dead phone he had no idea when he would be able to charge again. Right now he needed to get that chocobo back.

 

He caught a glimpse of it in front of them, weaving in and out of the trees. He would get dislodged if he wasn’t careful. No matter how hard he pushed the chocobo he was on, they never seemed to gain any ground on the one in front of them.

 

“Hey, slow down a little!” he called to the bird, but it listened to him about as well as it always had. Why had it taken off like that? It wasn’t like they actually understood what was being said to them. Gladio had said way worse, and none of the chocobos had ever taken off like that. It was getting further away from him, and he was never going to catch it. He was never going to find his way back to his belongings, and the little food he had left. He was going to die out here. All because he had been too afraid to face the life that had been waiting for him in Insomnia. Because he didn’t know how he was ever going to face Gladio again.

 

“Come on, big guy! I’m sorry!” he called after the chocobo but it didn’t slow its pace until they burst from the trees into a clearing. “Finally!” He breathed a sigh of relief as the chocobo he was on skidded to a halt. The other bird spread its wings and cawed aggressively. “Hey, I thought we were past this.”

 

He heard an answering call, one that sounded much more distressed, pulling his attention to the clearing. A pack of Voretooth’s were circling around a group of wild chocobos, including at least two babies that he could see. One of the adult chocobos called out for help again as a Voretooth got closer. Another one kicked it away, but it quickly regained its feet. The chocobos were outnumbered, and they had the little ones to think about.

 

It wasn’t his problem; he didn’t need to get involved. He was only one man low on supplies and unable to take care of himself. There was nothing he could do to help those chocobos. It was just nature. Just like what had happened with him and Gladio. Nature had a way of drawing its own conclusions. But Behemoth had brought him here for a reason. Because even if he didn’t think he could do anything, that chocobo believed he could.

 

“Okey-dokey,” he said, dropping from the chocobo to the ground. The familiar weight of Lionheart was heavy in his hand before he had fully committed to the idea of a fight. “I guess we’re just going to have to teach these bullies a lesson.”

 

There was a lot of those nasties for him to take on by himself. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He didn’t have much of a choice. If the last thing he was going to do with his life was to give some chocobos a fighting chance, so be it. There was nothing else for him to go back to anyway.

 

Years of training and perhaps something else he didn’t want to think about took over as he took aim at a Voretooth circling on the outside of the pack. He didn’t want to risk hitting one of the chocobos. The Voretooth went down and he ducked behind a nearby rock as the rest of them stopped circling and turned towards him. He took another deep breath. It wouldn’t take long for them to zero in on his location and to hunt him down. There were at least a dozen of those things remaining, and only one of him. They didn’t stand much of a chance against Lionheart, but he would still have to take them down quickly and accurately.

 

Keep your distance, stay on your feet. Easy enough to remember, but not always easy to follow. Only now there was no one to bail him out if he screwed it up. He rolled out from behind his cover and fired off two shots at the first two Voretooths he saw. A third one was closer, and he barely managed to scramble out of the path of its lunging jaws. He took aim and caught it right between the eyes. Four down, too many left to go. Had they brought in reinforcements? At least the chocobos had managed to get away. He hoped.

 

He had already failed lesson number one. They were far too close, and it was all he could do to stay out of their range. He ducked out of range of one to shot another in the leg. Shots like that were going to get him killed. Shot in the leg, the thing could continue to come after him. Pressed in by all sides as he was, he needed to make every shot count. He kicked one in the jaw that was getting a little too close and barely managed to scamper away from the next. The body count was growing, but there seemed to be no end of them. Every where he turned there was another one waiting to pin him to the ground and rip out his throat.

 

He supposed there was no delaying the inevitable. He rolled away from one to have another jump on top of him. He could feel its saliva dripping onto the back of his neck. It was all over. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for that first rip of pain when those powerful jaws would rip into his neck At least he would be seeing Noct again soon, although he would have a lot of explaining to do to his best friend.

 

The weight on his back inexplicably disappeared, and his eyes shot open as he tried to process how he was not dead. He could see the large chocobo that had brought him there, standing over a Voretooth whose spine had been broken. There were only a small handful left alive, but those that remained ran off when the chocobo spread its wings and advanced menacingly towards them.

 

The danger seemed to be past, at least for the moment. He took a quick assessment of his injuries as he pushed himself to his feet. Some minor scrapes and bruises. Nothing that would kill him immediately. The chocobo brought its wings tightly against its sides as Prompto staggered towards it. He leaned against it in relief, burying his face in the soft feathers of its neck.

 

“Thanks for the save, buddy,” he murmured. He was so tired and hungry, he could just fall asleep right there in the middle of the field. At least now he could die knowing that one thing still cared about what happened to him. Maybe the chocobos couldn’t understand him, but they deserved to know the full story if they were going to be stuck with him.

 

A kweh kweh from the edge of the thicket caused him to lift his head. The other chocobos had followed them, the one carrying his fishing rod in its beak, the other with the strap of his bag. Behemoth shook his neck to dislodge him and took a few steps away from him. Wiz hadn’t even been able to get a saddle on him, so he was surprised he had been allowed to touch him as long as he had.

 

“Aww, you guys really do care,” he said as he stumbled over towards the other two to relieve them of his stuff. The sun was starting to go down, and he had no idea where he was going to sleep for the night. And it looked like he was going to be eating his last bag of jerky for dinner. Unless the chocobos had brought fish with them. Something brushed up against his calf, and he looked down to see one of the baby chocobos had come back and was leaning up against his leg. “Hey, there, cutie. Shouldn’t you be with your momma or something?”

 

The little chocobo turned and darted off behind him, and it was so cute as it ran away on its little legs. Ran away straight to the much longer legs of a full grown chocobo that dropped its head to give it a nuzzle. That must have been momma then. One of the wild chocobos approached him, staring at him levelly for a moment before closing its eyes and lowering its head. He slowly raised his hand and placed his palm against the chocobo’s forehead.

 

“You guys don’t want to stay with me,” he said even though he wasn’t sure how he could possibly get rid of them. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing anymore.”

 

He shouldered his bag and swung back onto the chocobo that had been with him for so long. The other three would follow. They always did. He started out, keeping a lookout for the telltale smoke of a haven or somewhere else safe to sleep. When he looked over his shoulder, the wild chocobos were following him as well. And Behemoth was doing nothing to separate them from the herd. So this was a thing now.

 

He had no money, no food, no phone, no one to talk to, but he had a whole bunch of chocobos, and if Wiz could find a way to make a living from that, he could too. If he had some money. He might be able to get a loan from Iris if he asked her nicely enough. If not, there were other people he could turn to. Individually they might not have much, but they might let him borrow enough to get him through the next day.

 

In the meantime, he knew a place where he could take them where there was a fence and a few abandoned buildings that were at least structurally in tact if in need of some repairs. They would be somewhat safer there, and the roof would shield them from the rain. At least now he had a plan and a destination, which was more than he had when he had left Insomnia.

 

“Come on, buddies. I’m going to take us some place safe.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis had sort of naturally taken charge in the days immediately following the return of the sun and it seemed it worked so well that he hadn’t even questioned it. During those first couple of days he had been a little preoccupied to concern himself with the rebuilding effort. He was going to join in eventually, but at the time, the other things he had been doing had seemed so much more important. Not that they had done him any good. It was just so much easier to let Ignis to take control and to throw himself mindlessly into his work and try to forget about everything. So far it was the only cure that seemed to do anything for him. What he had wanted from this post apocalyptic world was not meant to be.

_His head still ached, but at least it was quiet in the house with both his parents out, and Iris at school, and the servants were always quiet. The bottle of pain pills sat on the end table next to the couch he was on, but he wasn’t willing to admit defeat just yet. Besides, if he was perfectly honest, it itched far more than it hurt. But he couldn’t scratch it through the bandage, and doing that would be the second dumbest thing he would have done that week. How was he supposed to have known that guy would have a knife on him? The doctor had said he was lucky the blade had missed his eye. He was still temporarily blinded through since the doctor thought it to be safer to cover his eyes with the bandage as well. Which was making reading this book damned difficult._

 

_If he took enough of the pain killers he might just be able to sleep off the rest of the week._

 

“ _Hello?” A vaguely familiar voice called from somewhere to his left. “Gladiolus?” Whoever it was, Jared clearly never should have let them through the front door. “Mr Amicitia the Younger?” He briefly debated just staying quiet in the hopes that the person would just give up and go away. “Big Guy who’s kind of the body guard for Prince Noctis?”_

 

_He rolled his eyes, but he doubted he was going to be able to read his book or get any peace until he figured out what this stranger wanted. Hopefully, it was something easy that he could just send him on his way and get back to his solitude._

 

“ _In here,” he called before the guy could call out anything more ridiculous._

 

“ _Sorry, your butler let me --- whoah. That guy must have really done a number on your face.”_

 

_He really didn’t need any more people fussing over him. His mother had already insinuated that they were going to have to drastically lower their standards when it came to finding him a fiancee. She couldn’t blame Noct, so she had taken to blaming the other kid who had been with Noct and was in her words, clearly a negative influence on the young prince. And speak of the devil, that was exactly who had come to see him. That same kid his mother blamed for ruining his marriage prospects stepped into his line of sight._

 

“ _What the hell are you doing here?” he growled, hoping the guy would take the hint and leave._

 

“ _I’m Noct’s friend, Prompto. Don’t you remember me? We’ve met before. You don’t have a concussion, do you? I was there when, you know,” he said, pointing up towards his own eye._

 

“ _Okay, Noct’s friend, what brings you here?”_

 

“ _I wanted to see how you were doing.” Which was nice, because Noct hadn’t even gotten around to it yet. “And to thank you for protecting me.”_

 

“ _It was nothing,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders as the kid sat down on the other side of the couch. “I have a duty to protect Noct.”_

 

“ _I know.”_

 

_He showed no signs of leaving; he actually seemed to make himself right at home even thought he had not given him the go ahead._

 

“ _But, drunk or not, that guy wouldn’t have tried to pull that knife on Noct.”_

 

_He didn’t know what to say to that other than he was probably right. The guy was already going to be facing charges, and he didn’t need attempted regicide added to the list. But if he could make one of them pay for his humiliating defeat, why not go for the smaller one who wasn’t royalty? But what kind of Shield would that make him if he allowed someone to knife an unarmed student?_

 

“ _You want me to read that to you?” Prompto asked, pointing to the book discarded on the couch between them. “That way it won’t be so much of a strain on your eye.”_

 

“ _That’s not necessary.” He just wanted to be left alone, to reflect on his mistakes._

 

“ _Come on, its the least I can do,” he said edging closer. Did Noct’s friend have no decent sense of personal space or was it just the bad depth perception from having one eye covered?_

 

“ _Why are you here, Noct’s friend?” He had said his piece, Gladio had told him that he had nothing to repay him for, so why was he still here?_

 

“ _I told you, I wanted to thank you.”_

 

“ _And you did that. Don’t you have someone better to be?”_

 

“ _Noct said he was coming here after school. He said it would be cool if I stayed here and waited for him.”_

 

_School. Where Iris and Noct were. Come to think of it, Noct’s friend had been wearing an identical school uniform every other time they had crossed paths that he wasn’t wearing now._

 

“ _Why aren’t you at school?” he asked, the question that he should have asked first. Noct had sent his friend to his house for a reason, and whatever the real reason was had probably been why Jared had been so willing to let a stranger in the house._

 

“ _Why? Don’t I look old enough to be out of school?”_

 

“ _Not unless you graduated in the last three days.” If Noct had a friend posing as a high school student just to get close to him, they had a whole other set of problems. “So I’ll give you one last chance to tell me the real reason why you’re here.” Or else he was going to drag him to the front door and toss him out into the street._

 

“ _Not all of us are lucky enough to have our own personal bodyguard.”_

 

_Right. He suspected Noct must have come to the conclusion that if the guy decided he wanted revenge, this kid would be the easiest target. The one who wasn’t royalty. The one who wouldn’t have someone bigger and older to defend him. So instead of both of them going to school, Noct had told his friend to wait for him here, where he would be safe. He hadn’t expected protecting Noct would cause so much trouble for someone else. Now the kid couldn’t even go to school without fear of being attacked. At least that was an educational book he had been reading._

 

“ _Well, you might as well make yourself useful,” he said pushing the book closer to the blond._

 

_~*~*~_

 

_Iris: Prompto stopped by to ask me for some gil._

_Iris: A lot of gil, actually_

_Iris: What’s going on?_

_Iris: Where are you?_

_Iris: Gladdy?_

 

“Gladio, are you paying attention?” Ignis asked from where he was standing beside him. He had no idea what Ignis had been saying to him the past few minutes. When the first text from Iris came in, he thought he should check it to make sure it wasn’t an emergency. He froze as he read the first one though, his thumb hovering over the reply button. He needed to tell her something. She was clearly getting worried, but he couldn’t reply to her and Ignis at the same time. Besides, Iris might have some information that Ignis would appreciate hearing.

 

“Give me a second, Iggy,” he said, trying to decide what he should tell Iris now and what he was going to have to call her about later. There was too much that couldn’t be adequately conveyed through a text, but he needed to respond to her and let her know he was alive, well, and still in Insomnia.

 

“Prompto’s alive,” he told Ignis, because Ignis need to hear that. He had been asking about Prompto almost daily, having been unable to get a hold of him himself.

 

_Iris: ????_

_Gladio: I’m fine. Still in Insomnia._

 

“Do you mean to tell me he actually contacted you?” Ignis asked, and he heard the unspoken accusation since Ignis had been the one calling him constantly in an effort to get Prompto to return to Insomnia. Gladio had tried to tell him that wouldn’t be happening, but Ignis insisted if Prompto had a sympathetic ear, he might just change his mind. Of course, Prompto had ignored or missed all his calls and hadn’t bothered to return any of them.

 

_Iris: Did something happen?_

_Gladio: I’ll fill you in on the details later._

 

There was too much to tell her, and not enough spac e in a text message. He needed time to explain to her what had happened, since maybe she could help him make sense of this. Right now, he had to take care of this business with Ignis, but as soon as that was done, he would call her.

 

_Gladio: Give him anything he asks for._

_Iris: Why can’t you give it to him?_

_Gladio: It’s complicated._

 

“Is he there with her now?” Ignis asked.

 

“I think so. He seems to be asking her for some gil.” He had probably run out; he hadn’t really taken much with him when he left.

 

“I would gladly loan him some, if he would answer my calls.”

 

“Iris and I have this covered,” he said, slipping his phone in his pocket before he could betray himself by asking questions he really did not want to know the answer to.

 

“I don’t know why Prompto would bother coming to the two of you for help. Not after what you did.”

 

He wasn’t going to rise to the bait. Not that time. They only ever ended up going in circles anyway, because there were certain things he couldn’t tell Ignis. Not even if they would get him off his back.

 

“Do you think Iris would be able to pass on a message from me?”

 

“Probably.” It wasn’t a question of whether or not she would pass on the message. He just wasn’t sure how Prompto would handle hearing it. There was probably a reason why he had not been responding to any of Ignis’ messages. Maybe he just didn’t feel like talking to any of them.

 

“Ask her to tell him that I’m here for him if he needs anything.”

 

Of course he would. Ignis had picked sides almost immediately. He supposed it was bound to happen eventually, but he was the one still here with Ignis. While Prompto was off in Lestallum, begging Iris for money. He should have been back in Insomnia with the two of them. They would have found a way to work this out. He pulled his phone back out and sent Ignis’ inquiry off to Iris. He didn’t bother waiting for a response before putting the phone back in his pocket. He didn’t need to be thinking about Prompto right now. There was a lot of work that needed to be done, and Ignis already had a late start to the day.

 

“What’s today’s agenda, Iggy?” he asked, trying to ignore the vibrating in his pocket. It wouldn’t be Prompto, and he doubted Prompto would give Iris any messages for him. Maybe for Ignis, to let him know that he was still alive. But not for him.

 

“We’ve had an influx of new recruits lately,” Ignis said as he started walking away and Gladio followed after him. Ignis had sort of naturally taken charge in the days immediately following the return of the sun and it seemed it worked so well that he hadn’t even questioned it. During those first couple of days he had been a little preoccupied to concern himself with the rebuilding effort. He was going to join in eventually, but at the time, the other things he had been doing had seemed so much more important. Not that they had done him any good. It was just so much easier to let Ignis to take control and to throw himself mindlessly into his work and try to forget about everything. So far it was the only cure that seemed to do anything for him. What he had wanted from this post apocalyptic world was not meant to be. “I want us to look over some of the newer ones today, see if any of them show any promise.”

 

“Can we really afford to turn any of them away?” It still hurt to look at the ruins of the city they had once called home, at the places where they used to all hang out together. They needed to fortify the walls, make the place safer, to get people to move back to Insomnia so they could really get down to the business of cleaning out the rubble and rebuilding.

 

“There are far too few of us remaining to train them all.”

 

He remembered the skyline as it used to be, even though they were a good deal away from where the Amicitia Manor once stood. He hadn’t been over that way yet. Too many memories. But over there was where Prompto used to live with his parents, and a little to the south of that was the remains of the building where Prompto had gotten his apartment shortly before they left. He still remembered the day Prompto had moved in, showing it off to Gladio. He had been so excited, especially since there was going to be a good deal more privacy for the two of them.

 

“I need you to assess them for me. Tell me about their specific abilities so we can have the more advanced ones training those who still need assistance.”

 

He should head over there sometime, check out the remainder of the building. It looked like Prompto’s apartment was in the portion that was still standing. Looters might have carried off anything valuable, not that there was much of that around, but there might be something still there. Not that he would be able to give it to Prompto, but he still thought he should check it out. Put anything he might find in safe storage in case Prompto came ever came back to visit Insomnia. He would likely want to talk to Ignis eventually.

 

“Gladio, you know I can tell when you’re not listening.”

 

“Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind today.” Where was Ignis hiding these recruits anyway? They seemed awfully far from where they were staying. Maybe he should talk to Ignis about consolidating their locations. He wasn’t exactly in a good place to be evaluating recruits, but they didn’t have time to wait for him to get his head out of his ass either.

 

“Wallowing in pity sounds more like. You have no one to blame for this but yourself.”

 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to respond. It wasn’t the first time he had heard about this form Ignis, and he doubted it would be the last. And there was too much going on today for them to get into this again.

 

“Prompto might come back if you would just apologize.”

 

He doubted that, but he couldn’t tell Ignis that. Couldn’t break it down in ways that Ignis would understand how everything had gone so wrong when he couldn’t even figure it out himself. So every time Ignis brought it up, he found that the best course of action was for him to just remain silent. Ignis usually dropped the subject after a few minutes, and today they had something more pressing to deal with. “So about those new recruits. How many did we get today?”

 

“The reports I got sad between forty-two and forty-seven.”

 

“Word must be getting out.” They used to be lucky if they got two or three per week. The more people they had defending the city, the sooner they could start rebuilding and getting their lives back in order.

 

“Indeed. I’m sure Iris has been sending some our way.” He didn’t say it, but Gladio knew he was thinking if only she could send Prompto back their way. She couldn’t work miracles, and Prompto probably would not stay around for much longer, not long enough for Iris to change his mind. She would just have to do what she could to help him and then send him on his way.

 

Ignis led him into an old building that might have once been a factory but had since been converted to training grounds for the new recruits. Some of the older Glaives were there, some of which he recognized, far too many that he did not. The new recruits had already been split up into weapon specializations.

 

“What do we have today?” Ignis asked him as they started walking around the perimeter.

 

A lot more than they usually did. Normally he would describe each of them for Ignis, but with so many he though he would be better off just telling him about the ones who were worth mentioning.

 

“There’s four with the long sword,” he said, watching them as they walked. None of them were really sticking out. “Six with pole arms.” In another lifetime, Ignis would have been training them. “Four with the broad sword. Three for fire arms.”

 

That last group made him stop and stare for a moment. One in particular caught his eye, a petite blonde woman who was remarkably good, firing off four shots in quick succession, none of which failed to hit their target. She turned to her companions with a broad smile that stirred something inside him even at that distance.

 

“Hello,” he said quietly, watching as she turned back around and took out another three targets.

 

“What is it, Gladio?” Ignis asked.

 

“We’ve got one in firearms that shows some promise.” In more ways than one. “Perfect aim, energetic, real easy on the eyes...” He might just have to go introduce himself later, offer to give her some private lessons.

 

“Gladio...” Ignis said warningly. “You cannot sleep with her.” Right, because it was unprofessional and irresponsible and a whole lot of other things he had to memorize when he joined the Crownsguard.

 

“I know.” He started walking again, giving Ignis more details about some of the other recruits that looked vaguely promising. Not one of them were as talented as that cute blonde over at the firearms. He kept getting distracted, and eventually Ignis dismissed him to get his information from the glaive in charge of that practice.

 

He wandered around the city for a while, but was not too surprised to find himself outside of Prompto’s old apartment building. He hadn’t meant to come here that soon, but here he was, and his traitorous feet were taking him inside, up the stairs from memory alone. The door was off its hinges when he arrived at Prompto’s old place, but he shouldered past the wreckage and made his way inside. Looters had already made off with everything valuable, not that there had been much. The most valuable thing that had been there were the memories.

 

Walking through that door, all he could think of was the first time Prompto had brought him over there. He had been so proud, even though it was little more than a living space and a bathroom. But it was private all the time, without the risk of siblings or servants walking in, and they didn’t have to wait for Prompto’s parents to go out of town for a night or two. They had barely made it through the door when Prompto had pushed him back against it, and started to initiate the apartment right there. Then over there on the island counter blocking off what constituted the kitchen. Then on the sofa and later in the shower that had barely been big enough for one of them. The window was broken, and a lot of debris had strewn across the floor and the broken remains of the furniture.

 

He made his way further into the room and sank down on the edge of the bed. He could still feel the ghost of Prompto’s lips moving along his jaw. That apartment had never seemed so small when he and Prompto had been there together. Why had he even come here? There was nothing there for Prompto to come back for. He kept insisting that Ignis needed to learn to accept the fact that Prompto wouldn’t be coming back. Why would he? There was nothing for him in Insomnia, and Cindy was still out there.

 

His heel collided with something under the bed, and he reached down to investigate. It was an old shoe box, covered with dust and battered around the edges. When he lifted the lid, he found a bunch of old photographs, most of them still in good shape although some of them were starting to show their age. He perused through them, studying Prompto’s early attempts at photography. There were a lot of shots around the city, and a good number of Prompto and Noct together, at school, at the arcade, at the citadel. There weren’t any pictures of him though. Not when he had warned Prompto against it.

 

He tucked the pictures into an inside jacket pocket as he stood up. Prompto wasn’t coming back. Even if Prompto would accept any of his phone calls, there was nothing he could say to convince Prompto to return. But he did know where the new recruits liked to go after training.


	3. Chapter 3

_It was hard to remember why he had been so insistent on this when Gladio kept slamming him down onto the mat, knocking the wind out of him and jarring his spine so he gritted his teeth. Lady Lunafreya had said nothing about this. Gladio paced around him, giving him time to catch his breath. He should have been getting better, but he felt like he was spending more time on his back with every session. He was only asked to become Noct's friend, no one had said anything about joining the Crownsguard. Gladio was still pacing around him as he rolled over onto his side. Gladio wasn't even breaking a sweat._

 

_He had all but begged Noct to talk to someone about letting him join the Crownsguard. He was at a severe disadvantage against the other candidates. Most of them had been training for this their entire lives. He only have a few months to get caught up. He pushed himself to his feet, and turned to face Gladio. At least it was starting to hurt less every time he got back up._

 

“ _Again,” Gladio told him._

 

_The extra one on one training with Gladio had been all Noct’s idea. Prompto’s preliminary test scores had left a lot to be desired, except for in fire arms. Noct suggested that since Gladio had been such a good sparring partner for him, maybe he could help Prompto get up to speed. Or at least help train him for the hand to hand combat portion of the exam. He rushed Gladio again, trying to do the move exactly as he had been shown. He was rewarded for his efforts by Gladio slamming him onto his back on the mat again, all the breath coming out of him at once. This really sucked. He thought joining the Crownsguard would be all about keeping Noct safe, not getting the wind knocked out of him every five minutes or so._

 

“ _Are you even paying attention?” Gladio growled down at him._

 

_Yes, he had been paying attention. It was just the move was incredibly difficult, and Gladio was like three times his size and that made it even more difficult. Granted, the first few sessions, his mind had drifted. It had been hard to focus those first few sessions when Gladio had been standing so close to him, manipulating his body into the proper position. He had eyes, and Gladio was hot as hell. It was only normal that every time Gladio would get too close to him he would start to sweat as his mind started going through the possibilities. Having Gladio body slam him into the mat a couple of times had cured him of that little crush though, and now it was a lot easier to concentrate on not getting killed._

 

“ _I’m doing the best I can,” he grunted out as he pushed himself back to his feet. There were so many moves to learn, he got them confused and then Gladio punished him in ways that he would definitely be feeling tomorrow. If his kept up he was going to have back problems by the time he was twenty-five._

 

“ _Your best is going to get you killed and then Noct killed,” Gladio growled at him. Okay, maybe it would get him killed, but he doubted something would happen to Noct with Gladio around. “Do the move again.”_

 

_He wouldn’t get a reprieve until Gladio said they were done for the night. And if he wanted to be a member of the Crownsguard, he had to learn these moves. They would be part of his exam, an exam which may very well be given to him by Gladio. He rushed him again, and for a brief moment he thought he felt Gladio start to teeter over, but he was soon on his back on the mat again._

 

“ _Again,” Gladio told him and because he didn’t have another choice, he stood up and attempted the move again. And was slammed to the mat. Again. And again. And again._

 

“ _Do you need a break?” Gladio asked when he took too long to get back to his feet. It was a trick question. He had only made that mistake once. When he was in training with Gladio, he only got breaks when Gladio wanted them. Which was never. Either Prompto was no match for him, or Gladio had the stamina of a Behemoth._

 

“ _No,” he said as he jumped back onto his feet. He needed to get this right. “I can do this,,” he said with a lot more confidence than he was feeling. He needed to get this move down so he would go on to the more advanced stuff, and so he could stop wasting Gladio’s time. He couldn’t let people down. He had to get into the Crownsguard. For Noct. For himself. For everyone who had ever doubted him. Gladio looked him over once more before making his way back to his spot._

 

_It was so difficult for him to tell what Gladio was thinking. Did he view this as a waste of his time and was only doing it because Noct had asked him to? Had Noct even asked him or had it been more of a princely demand? Or did Gladio believe in him and was just waiting for him to reach his full potential? It could have been possible. Even if Noct had persuaded him to do it, if Gladio thought it was a waste of his time, he could have passed it off to someone else. Hell, he wouldn’t put it past Gladio to tell Noct “no” if he thought it was a lost cause. If a tiny portion of Gladio believed he could do it too, then he could believe in himself._

 

_He charged Gladio again, once again landing on his back on the mat. This time, though, something was different; Gladio had toppled to the ground with him. He felt a brief elation at the thought that maybe he had managed to bring Gladio down with him. Never mind that Gladio was on top of him, and if they were actually fighting he would have been so screwed. He had finally managed to bring Gladio down!_

 

_His elation only lasted for the briefest moment until Gladio’s mouth covered his. His whole body froze while his thoughts started racing to process whatever was happening. Was this some sort of joke? Was this a part of his training? Was he supposed to fight Gladio off? Kiss him back? Gladio’s eyes were closed, so he wasn’t getting answers there. Gladio was too unreadable anyway, or else maybe he would have seen this coming and known how he was supposed to react. He was acutely aware of Gladio’s body next to his, how careful Gladio was to keep his weight off of him, only keeping the bare minimum of contact with him. Gladio’s one hand was on the mat by Prompto’s head, and he could feel the heat radiating from his forearm._

 

_He let his eyes drift shut and decided not to think about it anymore. He was just going to enjoy it and wonder what had happened later. He opened his mouth, allowing Gladio to deepen their kiss. He might not know what was going on, but he wasn’t going to complain. Even if this turned out to be some weird concussion fantasy, he was going to enjoy it. His fingers clawed at the mat beneath him. That felt real enough. So did the pressure of Gladio’s mouth and the swipe of his tongue. He wanted to touch Gladio, but he didn’t know if that was allowed so he dug his fingers deeper into the mat. He couldn’t stop the small whimper that escaped his throat._

 

_Gladio’s hand moved to his neck, tilting his head back so he could kiss him deeper. He could get used to this sort of attention from Gladio. He wouldn’t be too disappointed if this was how more of their training sessions went. There were definite benefits to being on his back on the floor with Gladio on top of him. Like the way Gladio’s thumb was caressing the bottom of his chin. Or the way he was shifting beside him, turning further into him._

 

_Just as abruptly as this had all started, Gladio pulled away from him and stood up. “I’ll-” he started, and cleared his throat. “I’ll see you for training tomorrow.” Before Prompto had the chance to respond, Gladio made his out of the room. Prompto dropped his head back down to the mat, licking his lips. What the hell just happened?_

 

~*~*~

 

“Welcome back, buddy!” he called to the chocobo as it wandered back up to the stables. The other birds didn’t seem to care that one of their own had returned, but Behemoth stalked over to give the bird a cursory inspection. Satisfied that the chocobo was one of their own and had not suffered any lasting harm on its adventure, he stalked away to stand guard over two of the baby chicks. Prompto shook his head affectionately as he set about the task of welcoming the chocobo home. He checked in the saddle bags to make sure nobody had left any personal belongings and found a few gil with a note thanking him for the rental. He took the saddle off and the bird shook out some of its feathers. “Did you have a nice adventure?” he asked it as he grabbed the bridle and lead it into the stable.

 

He stopped by the tack room to put the saddle away, taking care to step over his sleeping bag. He didn’t want to track dirt all through it when he wouldn’t have time to clean it again for a while. He had built twenty stalls into the stable. Five of the chocobos were currently in their stalls, the rest were rented out to supplement Wiz’ rentals. Wiz didn’t have enough chocobos left to meet the demand, not with so many cars out of order. So he had picked up the overflow, renting out the best behaved chocobos. He almost had enough money to pay Iris back her initial investment. He led the chocobo into the stall, shutting the door behind him before taking the chocobo off the lead.

 

“Maybe you can get a few days off before I send you back out again,” he said, patting the chocobo on the side of the neck. Maybe if he had more chocobos, some of them could rest a little more before they would head out again. He put some food in the trough before he stepped outside the stall. Five more chocobos to feed in here, and then he would have to deal with the ones outside. One of the other chocobos was due back later in the day, and he needed to make sure it had fresh bedding before it returned. He went about the task of feeding the other waiting chocobos, trying to ignore the dull ache that seemed to have permanently moved into his shoulders. The work never seemed to end.

 

Once that was done, he made his way back outside to tend to the other chocobos, the ones that were not available for rent. They still needed fed and groomed and if possible trained so they could also be sent out as rentals. Except for his original four. He would never send them out. He liked to think of them as retired, free to spend the last years of their lives spending quality time with the other birds, frolicking in green pastures. Behemoth was useless as a rental anyway. He barely tolerated Prompto grooming him, and he wouldn’t let anyone else near him. Not that they had many visitors. Iris came by chocobo once and had offered to help him find hired help so he could get more accomplished. But hired help was just more money he would have to pay out and the longer he would stay in Iris’ debt. So hiring help was out of the question.

 

He sighed as he picked up a brush and made his way over to the nearest chocobo. The ones outside got a lot of leaves and grass and twigs and stuck in their feathers that were sometimes difficult to pick out. And there were a lot of chocobos that needed groomed. No sooner would he get through them all then he would have to start all over again. He had just finished up the third chocobo when his phone started ringing in his pocket. Another chocobo rental. He would have to take care of that before he could finish with the ones out here. He made his way back into the stables and into the tack room, this time stepping carefully around the box of things to be sent back to Cindy. He grabbed a saddle, stumbled out the door, and made his way to the stall of the next chocobo scheduled to go out. The chocobo nuzzled up against him as he made his way in and he slung the saddle onto its back. He strapped it on, checked the girth, and led it outside.

 

“Cornix Station,” he told the chocobo before giving it a slap to send it on it sway. “Have fun out there!” he called after it as it trotted away. He was going to head back to the other chocobos, but he had other problems. Namely the arrival of a large airship in the northern field that send most of the chocobos running towards the stables. He wasn’t expecting anyone, so it couldn’t be anything good. He checked to see if Lionheart was ready. He didn't know if there was anyone still looking for him, but it was better to be ready. He had made a lot of enemies when he had been hanging out with Noct.

 

Behemoth didn't join the other chocobos seeking shelter in the stable, but came to stand by his side, watching the airship with interest. He didn't need the chocobo there, but it was still reassuring. He was something familiar, and he was a formidable sight with all the new scars he had picked up over the last couple of years. The hatch opened, and he braced himself for Mts or worse. A single figure exited the airship and hailed him as she approached.

 

“Hey, Shortcake,” Aranea greeted him as she approached though she stayed far away from Behemoth. “How's the chocobo ranch life treating you?”

 

“Aranea? How did you find me?”

 

“I have my connections,” she said with a smirk. If she could find him that easily, then other people could find him as well. And yet, she was the only person who had bothered to come looking for him. He shouldn't have been surprised by that really. Cindy had gone back to Hammerhead, Iris had her life in Lestallum. He didn't think anybody else would bother looking for him. Why would they? “You only have one bird?” she asked, gesturing to Behemoth.

 

“No, the rest got scared inside.” Behemoth must have decided she was not a threat because he wandered off to inspect the parked airship. “I'll give you a tour.” He turned back towards the stables, checking only once to see if she was following him. There wasn't much else for someone to go to. The other buildings were still falling apart. The rest of the chocobos had milled around in the hallway, barely leaving enough room for the two of them to enter the building “So...” he said, shifting his weight into his heels, “this is it.”

 

“This is all of it?” Aranea asked, stepping back as one of the other chocobos decided it was a little too crowded in there. “One building and twenty chocobos that don't even have their own stalls?

 

“I don't go into your airship and tell you how to run things,” he said defensively. He wanted to train these other chocobos and fix up some of the other buildings, but there never seemed to be the time.

 

“You need help,” Aranea told him bluntly.

 

“Cindy was helping me with the paperwork for a while,” he whispered. She hadn't known what to do with the birds, but she would spend hours in the office, budgeting their expenses and checking the rentals to make sure they were going somewhere safe. The office was a mess now.

 

“Is she around?”

 

“She went back to Hammerhead. She missed working with cars, and she didn't have a knack for working with the chocobos.”

 

“I can't help you with that,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder, “but I can solve the rest of your problems.” She never stayed in one place for long, and he doubted she would part with any of her crew just to help him out.

 

“I can't pay anyone,” he said as she turned and started walking back to her airship. He probably could afford to pay someone, but that would just indebted him to Iris for longer than he wanted.

 

“Lucky for you you won't have to pay them,” she said over her shoulder.

 

“I'm not taking any M Ts you reprogrammed or anything.” That would just be weird.

 

“Nothing like that,” she said with a laugh as her heels clacked up the ramp. He didn't see the harm in following her. He stopped at the top, blinking his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. Ten people were shackled to benches, five on each side.

 

“Nope,” he said, turning around and making his way back down the ramp and onto solid ground. He vaguely registered Aranea calling after him, but he didn't stop. He had already lost too much time, and there were plenty of chocobos that still needed groomed and a fence that could use some repairs. Not that the chocobos went anywhere, but something else could get in. “I don't know what you're planning, but I don't want a part of it.” He didn't even want to know what had given her the idea that he would be complicit in whatever it was she had planned. It couldn't have been anything good.

 

Her longer legs meant she caught up to him far too quickly, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around so that he was forced to face her. “The least you can do is listen to what I have to say.”

 

“I'm not interested in whatever justification you have for bringing me a bunch of teenagers in shackles and telling me that they can work for me.”

 

“These are Lucian-born petty criminals caught in Niflheim that I'm supposed to be transporting to Insomnia for incarceration. They'll just get lost in the system and will probably never even get trials.” He hadn't gotten a very good look at them, but they seemed to range between the ages of twelve and twenty. “Don't you think they deserve better than growing up branded by a serial number?”

 

He rubbed the band still covering his wrist. Damn her. Even a petty criminal was likely to be more trouble than it would be worth.

 

“Don't you think someone will notice if all your transports go missing?” Then they would check her flight logs and if he was lucky, he would only have one military force bearing down on him.

 

“I don't expect you to be able to feed all of them.”

 

“Just one,” he said. Aranea smiled at him before turning back to the airship. He stayed at the top of the ramp, studying his options. Did they know the choice that was being offered to them? A chance to stay out of an over crowded prison? A second chance at life? Most of them didn't even bother looking up at him. There were six young men and four young women. The obvious choice would be the older young man that was already well-muscled. He could be useful, especially if he already knew something about chocobos.

 

But he kept getting drawn to the dark haired girl in the back, the one with the scar down the left side of her face. The girl across from her said something softly, and she raised her face and her lips curled up into the briefest smile. His heart clenched in his chest at that smile. She smiled just like Noct used to, until she dropped her head again, like she was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself.

 

“That one,” he said, pointing at her before he turned and stumbled back down the ramp. He might have made a mistake. She might be terrible with the chocbos. She was scrawny and probably couldn't even lift an ax. He certainly hadn't made that decision based on any qualifications she may or may not have.

 

Aranea personally escorted her down the ramp, her wrists still shackled in front of her, and her feet bare and scratched. In the sun he could see her left eye was blind. That didn't mean she couldn't fight though.

 

“I had a feeling you might like her.” He let that one slide. “Introduce yourself,” Aranea said, elbowing the girl in the side.

 

“Illythia,” she said sullenly. “I would offer to shake your hand, but...” she said, holding up her shackled wrists for emphasis.

 

“You got a last name, Illythia?”

 

“Not anymore.”

 

Fair enough. He supposed if there were two major governments seeking his incarceration, he probably would be wary about giving strangers his last name as well.

 

“Well, Illythia, I'm Prompto, and I'm going to teach you how to take care of chocobos.”

 

“Fantastic.”

 

“Are they all like this?” he addressed Aranea. He was starting to regret agreeing to help her.

 

“They've been turning into political pawns for pick pocketing,” Aranea said as she reached down to unlock the girl's shackles. “She's actually one of the nicer ones.” The girl rubbed her wrists as Aranea took the shackles away. Aranea gave her a gently nudge and she stumbled forward until she was standing beside Prompto.

 

“What are you going to tell them when they ask you why you're short?”

 

“She tried to escape when we stopped to refuel. Unfortunately, she had to be put down.”

 

“What about the other ones? Aren't you worried that they'll say something?”

 

“It will likely be months before anyone talks to them. And they don't even know why they're here.” She sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking up at the sky. “I'll probably stay in Insomnia for a while.” Not like she came to visit him frequently or anything. “There's someone I haven't seen for a while.” There were plenty of people he had left behind in Insomnia, but he tried to forget about them most of the time. “Do you have any messages you want me to pass on?”

 

He could use Aranea as an intermediary. By the time she got back to him, he might actually be able to consider testing the waters with the two of them.

 

“Have you heard anything from them?” he asked.

 

“Just hearsay. Ignis took control of the rebuilding effort and is doing quite well.”

 

“And Gladio?” He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Did he manage to reconcile with his girlfriend?

 

“I hear different things. One says he has a new girlfriend. Another says they're married. Someone else tells me he quit the Crownsguard to be with this woman and another tells me that he just spends his evenings alone. Last person I talked to told me none of that was true, but he did hear that he had a boyfriend.”

 

“So nobody knows?”

 

“I'm sorry, I'm usually a long way from Insomnia, and whatever he is doing, it's not consistent.”

 

“Can you check in on him for me? Make sure he's okay?”

 

“Define okay.”

 

“Alive?”

 

“I can definitely check to see if he's alive,” she said with a small smile. “Good luck with Illythia.” She turned and started back towards her airship.

 

“Bye, Aranea,” he called after her and she waved without looking back at him. She was gone again, just like everything else from his past. Buffeted by the wind, he watched as the airship took off, heading towards the city. Normally people didn't leave people behind though, and he turned his attention to the young woman next to him. She was already dashing away in the direction of the nearest chocobo.

 

“Should have seen that one coming,” he mumbled as he slowly followed after her. Unfortunately for her, the nearest chocobo was Behemoth, who had been watching the airship leave with great interest. She managed to get as far as swinging herself onto his back, and he had to give her credit for her effort. Behemoth's head shot up, but the girl didn't seem aware of the danger she was in, too busy trying to find a way to get him to obey. Behemoth half bucked once, and she lurched forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He bucked three more times before he dislodged her, sending her flying through the air. He winced when she hit the ground and crumpled into a heap. He wanted to go help her since he knew first hand how hard a fall from Behemoth could be. But he also suspected that his help would not be appreciated, so he forced himself to stay back a little ways, close enough to talk to her, but not close enough to make her feel threatened.

 

“Can you stand?” he asked her. He might be able to help if she broken something but it would be better for all of them if she hadn’t.

 

She didn’t answer him for a moment, but eventually she nodded once. She didn’t make an effort to stand just yet.

 

“Listen, I’m not going to force you to stay here.” Although if she did, he would agree to keep her fed and maybe Iris would send him some old clothes if he explained the situation to her. “Just stay the night. Get some food and some rest. In the morning, if you still want to leave, I’ll give you a chocobo and some supplies to get you started.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Insomnia, Gladio is still struggling with letting go of Prompto, and the distraction could have deadly consequences.

_To say things were not going well was about as much of an understatement as saying Ignis was near unapproachable if he had gone more than six hours without an Ebony. They had been separated from Noct. That had been no one’s fault. They hadn’t know how quickly the Empire would move in. Then they had lost Ignis. That one had been his fault._

 

“ _Come on, Big Guy,” Prompto called encouragingly over his shoulder at him. “We’ll catch up with Iggy soon.” There was no time to rest. They barely had time to process the information Ignis had given them before he was sending them something new. He pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and followed Prompto around the corner into a narrow alley. There would be time to rest when they were all dead he supposed. Right now they needed to focus all their attention on reaching Noct. If he was still alive._

 

_Prompto’s faith on that regard had never faltered. Gladio didn’t know if the thought had simply not occurred to him or if a world without Noct was just too difficult to contemplate at the moment. So they pressed on, trying to avoid the soldiers when they could, doing their best to make quick work of them when conflict was unavoidable._

 

“ _We’ll find them soon,” Prompto reassured him again with a smile that almost made him want to believe it. If nothing else, Prompto’s optimism that there was light at the end of this dismal tunnel they were trapped in was enough to get him to take one more step. And then another. They had to reconnect with Noct and Ignis. There was still a chance that he could make this right._

 

_He watched Prompto as they made their way through the ruined streets of Altissa. Had it really only been the night before they had slipped away for that gondala ride? This was supposed to have been over with Noct’s wedding. Now that it seemed likely that the wedding was not going to be happening, where did that leave them? They couldn’t go on like they had before. He knew that now. But he had never been very good at staying away from Prompto, and he didn’t know how he was going to spend the rest of his life seeing him every day and pretend like none of it had ever mattered._

 

_Prompto kept getting further away from him. Literally. He darted around a corner to scout for troops and he staggered after him. He thought he would be able to ignore the pain in his leg, but with every step he took, the pain got worse and started to shoot up into his side. He just needed to take his mind off of it for a little while. Maybe if Prompto had found some soldiers up ahead of them he could take some aggressions out on them. They could experience some of his pain. They deserved it._

 

_Prompto came back around the corner without any updates, put both of his hands on his chest and pushed him back into a small alcove. They didn’t have time to rest. They needed to get to Noct before it was too late. He could still make things right._

 

“ _Okay,” Prompto said, standing in front of him, both hands still on him and effectively blocking his escape route. Not that he could have gone barreling past him even if he wanted to in his current condition. He didn’t know how that leg was still supporting him. “Take your pants off.”_

 

“ _I don’t think now is exactly the time,” he said, trying to smirk through the pain. “This is a public place and we’re kind of in the middle of a battle here.”_

 

“ _Not that,” Prompto hissed at him before pressing his knee against the outside of his leg. “That,” Prompto said in response to Gladio’s hiss, easing the pressure off his leg. Which did not make him feel any better. “Do I need to do everything myself?” Prompto asked him as his hands moved towards the waist band of his pants. He manged to get them done with surprising efficiency given the circumstances. He didn’t have the energy to fight him anyway, and somebody should look at the wound in his leg. Check the extent of the damage. He wasn’t up to checking it himself, he needed to keep moving. If was the only way he would be able to protect Noct._

 

_Prompto eased his pants down, trying to be careful, but Gladio still groaned when his fingers brushed up against the wound. Prompto had to pry the leather away from where the blood had dried and stuck the two together._

 

“ _When did this happen?”_

 

“ _When that airship destroyed the bridge,” he said through gritted teeth as Prompto probed the edges of the wound. He had been so concerned about getting Prompto out of harm’s way that he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was landing. And in trying to avoid landing on Prompto, he had landed on a rather sharp piece of debris, that had torn up a large portion of his thigh he noticed when he looked down at his leg._

 

“ _You should really use a potion on this,” Prompto concluded._

 

“ _No,” he protested. “We might need that for Noct.” He had already failed Noct. He had failed Ignis. He wouldn’t fail again._

 

“ _Don’t be ridiculous,” Prompto said before taking a potion and breaking the vial against the wound. The relief was instant, a coolness seeping across his skin as flesh knitted back together. Something still ate away at him though, something no potion could cure._

 

_Prompto’s brow furrowed over eyes that shone brighter than a galaxy as he watched the potion do its work. Probably gauging to see if he needed to apply a second one. He wouldn’t let him, no matter what his assessment might be._

 

_He had to stop this. He never should have started it to begin with. He hadn’t been strong enough to fight that pull when they were younger, but now he had to be strong enough to walk away. For Noct. It was the only thing he could think of to ensure that Noct stayed alive._

 

_This time it had been Ignis. They were lucky that he survived. Next time it might be Noct. He couldn’t say for sure that he wouldn’t make the same choice a second time. He couldn’t afford any distractions. If he was given the choice right now, he wasn’t entirely sure his body wouldn’t betray him. He hadn’t made that decision to save Prompto instead of Ignis._

 

_He need to end this now, before they put themselves in a position where Noct might be killed. Prompto would understand. He had made it perfectly clear to him from the beginning that there was no future for them._

 

“ _That should be enough to keep you going for a little longer,” Prompto said, but he could hear how he was holding back. He probably would have gone through their entire stash to make sure he was okay if left unchecked. It was what he would have done._

 

“ _Prompto,” he said, reaching up to gently cup his cheek, tilting his head back to he could look him in the eyes. If he couldn’t do that much for him than he had no business thinking he had the courage to be Noct’s shield. He ran his thumb gently across his temple, the soft strands of his hair brushing his skin like soft silk. How was he supposed to look at that face every day and not want to kiss him? The only way he was going to pull this off was to cut off all emotional attachments. No morning jogs. No late nights playing cell phone games. Once they returned to Insomnia, all of their interactions would have to be strictly professional. Which meant he was going to have a to have a conversation with him about his photography habits. “I’m sorry,” he started, but he didn’t think they had enough time for him to explain everything he was feeling at the moment._

 

“ _For what?” Prompto asked him, eyes going innocently wide like he had no idea about what was going to happen. How was he supposed to live with himself after breaking the purest heart he had ever come across?_

 

_His hand trailed down so he could cup Prompto’s chin. No one would have blamed him for one last kiss before he was forced to say goodbye. It would have to be a good one, to keep close to his heart in the long years to come. Before he could cover the last few inches, an explosion rocked a building two streets over, and Prompto jerked away from him. The Empire was closing in on them again._

 

“ _Hold that thought, Big Guy,” Prompto said before he ducked away to make sure none of the soldiers were about to sneak up on them. He didn’t want to hold that thought. He wanted to bury it away in the deepest part of himself, only to be remembered when they were old and gray together. But that would be a disservice to Noct._

 

“ _I love you,” he said to the ashy air in front of him where Prompto had stood._

 

_~*~*~_

 

“Gladio, are you in position yet?” Ignis asked him over a staticy connection. The headsets were old and hadn’t been service in quiet some time. He had been surprised the damn things still worked when Ignis had handed it to him. He thought those things would have gone out of style with the advent of cell phones. Then again, cell phones couldn’t be relied on since a good portion of the towers were still out of service. And he didn’t think he would just be able to call up Ignis in the middle of a battle. Strategically, it made more sense for them to not be in the same area, bolster the defenses of their newbies.

 

“Almost,” he radioed back. He had lost valuable time already, and that herd was getting close. They hadn’t the manpower to finish rebuilding the wall, and the civilians who remained inside would be vulnerable if those things broke through.

 

“What’s taking so long?” Ignis demanded.

 

“I passed three recruits trying to desert their posts.” So he had to strong arm them back into position. They couldn’t afford any weak spots. People inside were counting on them.

 

“You should have left them go,” Ignis told him. “We don’t have time to be dealing with deserters.”

 

“We need all the help we can get right now,” he replied as he took his place on the wall next to three recruits with rifles. It was hard to say from his distance exactly what the horde was made of. All they could see was large shapes and the cloud of dust rising up behind them. They didn’t know how many they were dealing with either. They could have been vastly outnumbered for all they knew. They could die today. Some of their new recruits were only eighteen. They didn’t deserve to die.

 

“Have the sharp shooters take out as many as they can before the breach the wall.” They wouldn’t be able to stop all of them, so they would have to take the rest out before they could get too far in. Some of the recruits were supposed to be evacuating the buildings closest to the wall, taking the inhabitants to shelters.

 

“We only have three sharpshooters, and there are hundreds of those things,” he pointed out. That was too much pressure for recruits that had only been in training a couple of months.

 

“This seems like a situation in which we really could have used Prompto,” came the reply. He didn’t need to be thinking about Prompto right now. He needed to stay focused on not getting killed, and hopefully keeping some of these recruits alive. That horde did not seem to have any intention of changing direction.

 

“I don’t think now is the best time to be discussing this,” he growled as he stepped away from the recruits. They didn’t need to know the details of this conversation.

 

“He would be a huge help right about now. Maybe he could have properly trained some others, and we might actually have a chance of surviving this night.”

 

“That’s not my fault,” he protested, but now was not the time to be pleading his case. Ignis never seemed willing to listen to him anyway on that regard. Prompto had promised Noct he would help rebuild the city, and he would never go back on a promise he had made to Noct. Especially the last one.

 

“If only we had another sharp shooter who was almost as good as Prompto,” Ignis continued. He could see distinct shapes in the horde now. It looked like all the local wildlife was being driven to the city on some hell bent mission. “That’s right, we did. But we had to let her go because you couldn’t remember how to keep your pants zippered.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll have to talk about this later,” he said before taking the headset off and throwing it to the side. He needed to be focused on what was happening now, not plagued by ghosts of the past. “Take out as many as can before they breach the wall,” he instructed his three sharpshooters. The headset was making a noise that may have been Ignis calling his name, but he ignored it as he descended the stairs to join the recruits waiting at ground level. Shots ran out above him as he jumped down from the bottom landing. This section of wall had had a huge hole left over from the war, so they could see exactly what was coming for them.

 

There were about twenty or so recruits in this section with him, weapons of choice at the ready. They were all green. All senior members had taken a group of recruits with them to defend the weakest portions of the wall. He wasn’t Noct to lead them. He wasn’t Ignis to give them some sort of strategic advice. He wasn’t the Marshall to inspire them with his legend or Prompto to cheer them on. He had no idea what to tell them. He fully expected a quarter of them to die before the battle was over, but he didn’t think telling them that would be the best option.

 

“For hearth and home,” he told them before summoning his own sword and turning to face the oncoming hoard. He saw a Voretooth in the front get taken down by one of their sharpshooters. And Ignis thought they wouldn’t be able to make a difference.

 

The first one broke through, and he dispatched it easily. They weren’t particularly strong, but there was a lot of them. He took out the second one, hoping it would bolster his recruits’ spirits once they saw how easy it could be. After the first two, they started to burst in like a flood, and the recruits had to start helping him. This was easy, the mindless hacking of things that attacked his city. He was still good for something. Swipe the legs of that one and finish it off with a strike to one of its two hearts. Cut the head clean off another one. It no longer mattered what they were, they needed to be dealt with in the same way.

 

A shout from above pulled his attention away from the blood carcass in front of him. “Who invited the flying bastards?” he growled as a group of them started to harass his sharpshooters. He shook away the voice in his head telling him ‘never fear, Prompto’ here.’ Prompto wasn’t here. Just him and a bunch of recruits who were going to be killed if he didn’t do something.

 

He pushed aside another Voretooth and sprinted up the stairs. By the time he got up there, they had already dealt with two of the flying things, their bodies littering the broken rampart. He charged at the lowest one, slicing its wing off and sending it plummeting to the ground. Another one hit him in the back, knocking him off balance over the body of it’s fallen comrade.

 

There was no wall to break his fall on the other side. One of the sharpshooters reached out to him, but he was too far away.

 

The fall was shorter than he expected. He didn’t have much time to think before he was slamming into something. Everything hurt, and he couldn’t see straight, but he was sure he had survived worse. Something underneath him that had broken his fall had not fared as well and was no longer breathing. He just needed to get back to his feet and rejoin the fight. Then everything would be alright again. He got one arm underneath him to push himself up. He would get up and everything would be okay.

 

He never made it that far. Something tore into his leg, shooting pain through his whole body. He tried to shake the thing off, but it just dug its teeth in deeper. A sword went through its side, and the creature went slack. A recruit stood over him, looking down at him in concern.

 

“Captain, are you alright, sir?” the recruit asked him.

 

He wanted to tell him he was fine, that they both needed to get back in the fight, but nothing was responding the way it was supposed to.

 

“I’ve really missed you, Big Guy,” Prompto whispered against his lips the night, or rather the morning after they were reunited.

 

He wanted to tell him that he never wanted him to leave again, that the two of them should stay together this time. But he couldn’t get the words to form, so instead he kissed him again before dragging them both down to the thin mattress. They had made do with worse. Prompto had slipped through his grasp anyway, and trying to hold onto the good moments was like trying to hold onto smoke. Those days were long gone to be replaced with cold nights.

 

“Looks like he’s coming around,” a vaguely familiar voice said from somewhere beside him, but he couldn’t quite place where he knew her from.

 

“It’s been rough, but the doctors are sure he’s going to make it.” That one was Iggy. He definitely knew Iggy, but when he reached out, he couldn’t find anyone. Maybe Ignis wasn’t there. He was still cross with him.

 

“Shit,” the woman spoke again, but he couldn’t find either of them. “He’s a right mess.” They couldn’t have been talking about him. What had happened at the wall? “Prompto asked me to check in on him, but I don’t have the heart to tell him this.”

 

Prompto. Prompto would take care of him. Prompto was probably right there, in the next room. He would help him make sense of all of this. He wouldn’t want to see him suffer. He tried to stretch out his hand, waiting for slender fingers to wrap around his, to give them a gentle squeeze and tell him everything was going to be okay.

 

“Prompto,” he croaked, but no answer came. “Prompto?”

 

“The meds are making him delirious,” Ignis said, and he heard movement. Someone was moving closer.

 

“Prompto?”

 

“Prompto’s not here, remember?” Ignis said from where he was much closer to the bed. He remembered the comfort of waking up in Prompto’s arms. “Prompto left because of you.”

 

He weakly shook his head, but he couldn’t remember how Ignis was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he just couldn’t remember what he had done to drive Prompto away. If he hadn’t done something, wouldn’t Prompto still be here, helping to rebuild the city he and Noct had loved so much?

 

“Iggy,” he said before clearing his throat. He needed to say this while he could still comprehend what he was saying. It was important, and he could feel the blackness creeping back in on his conscious.

 

“What is it, Gladio?”

 

“You have to tell him I still love him. Before it’s too late.” Before they all lost Prompto forever.

 

“You can tell him yourself once you’ve recovered, if you have the balls to try it.” He couldn’t. He might not even remember this once he regained consciousness again. Time was no longer linear. He could have sworn Ignis was wearing a blue shirt when they had started this conversation, but it was definitely red now. Maybe he wasn’t even talking to Ignis. All he knew for certain now was that Prompto was gone, and they had no idea where he had gone.

 

He reached out to try to grab the front of Ignis’ shirt. He had to make him understand. This might be the last chance he would ever get.

 

“I would have given anything to stay with him,” he managed to get out. Not a day went by since he left that he didn’t think about his laugh or the warmth of his smile. About how empty his life had become since that day. Now he had nothing to anchor him in reality.

 

“Then why didn’t you?” Ignis accused him as he slipped away again, back into that gap in time where he and Prompto were still together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto and Illythia adjust to life with each other and get a surprise visitor at the ranch.

_They all had their jobs to do once they arrived at a haven to get ready for the evening. Well, Ignis and Gladio had their jobs, and he used to have to do nothing more than keep Noct entertained and out of the way. Gladio would set up the tent and light the fire, and Ignis was in charge of making them dinner. Now, they had the chocobos to contend with as well, and someone had to take care of them before they could get settled in for the night. Since he had been the one who had insisted on getting the chocobos in the first place, the other three unanimously decided that he should be the one to take care of them._

 

_It wasn’t so bad. All he had to do was feed and groom them and he could rejoin the others before Gladio even had the tent pitched. It was kind of nice down with the chocobos though, since he hadn’t had a private moment since they had left the city. The four of them were always up in each others’ space, and while he didn’t mind Gladio in his space, it was a problem when the other two were around. Being that close to Gladio and having to refrain from touching him was turning out to be a lot more difficult than he thought it was going to be. He had practice, but never had he been in constant contact with him like this. He needed some space, some room to breathe. He took the saddle off the first chocobo, and it shook out its wings with a healthy chirp. He started grooming it, straightening the feathers. The chocobo preened under his attention, and he gave it a final pat. He filled its bowl with a bag of greens before he moved onto the next one. They were well behaved for the most part._

 

_A strong hand brushed against the small of his back, and he jumped, startling the bird he was working on. He could always recognized Gladio though, the feel of his hands against his skin. Nobody else could send such a shiver down his back, exciting him in a way nothing else did._

 

“ _Don’t sneak up on me like that,” he chastised Gladio as he turned his attention back to the chocobo. The birds needed his attention more than Gladio did at the moment. He could get his own food and was more than capable of grooming himself._

 

“ _But you’re cute when you’re startled,” Gladio growled in his ear. He was standing awfully close to him; he could feel the heat radiating off his body._

 

“ _Aren’t you the one who said we had to be careful?” he asked as Gladio’s hand slipped around his waist, pulling him closer. Not that he minded; he had missed this, the closeness, Gladio’s body pressed up against his. The long nights in his tiny apartment with Gladio’s hands all over him, with Gladio over him, under him in his bed, against the front door… and he needed to stop that train of though before he turned around and pinned Gladio to the side of the haven. Noct and Ignis would come looking for the two of them eventually, and there were limits to what Gladio would want them to see. So he swallowed hard and focused on grooming the chocobo in front of him. Not on the memory of the last time Gladio had been gripping his hip like that._

 

“ _They’ll be preoccupied for a few minutes,” Gladio said lowly before nipping at his earlobe. He dropped the brush as a shiver raced down his spine._

 

“ _A few minutes doesn’t seem like enough time for what you have in mind,” he said, tilting his head so Gladio could move his teeth down to his neck. He wouldn’t bite him hard enough to leave a mark, at least not anywhere where someone would be able to see it and ask questions._

 

“ _Nah,” Gladio said. “I just wanted to spend some time with you. Getting a little jealous of all the time you’re spending with Noct.”_

 

“ _That’s ridiculous,” he said even as the sentiment rushed warmth to his cheeks. Or maybe that was just the way Gladio’s fingers were sneaking under the edges of his shirt and trailing over his skin. A dangerous move for someone who wanted to keep their relationship secret from the other two members of their group. “You spend just as much time with Noct as I do.” If not more, since Gladio had known Noct longer than he had._

 

“ _Yeah, but I don’t want to do the things to Noct that I want to do to you,” Gladio growled in his ear. He should definitely push him away before things got a little out of control. He wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the other two seeing him being intimate with Gladio. Gladio moved back up to nip at his earlobe. The birds could wait a little longer, and until dinner was ready it was unlikely that the other two would come looking for them until it was time for them to eat._

 

“ _Ow!” Gladio jumped away from him, and the two birds he could see stomped their feet and rustled their feathers._

 

“ _Easy,” he said, stepping away from Gladio to try to soothe the birds. He scratched the one’s nose and gave the other a few quick scratches to the chest. Once they were settled and he was satisfied that they weren’t going to run off, he turned his attention back to Gladio._

 

“ _What was that about?”_

 

“ _The big one pecked at me,” Gladio said, side stepping away from the chocobo in question and eying it up warily._

 

“ _Yeah, he has a mean streak.” He had been putting that one off for last after watching the bird struggle with his rider for the better part of the day. “Maybe he’ll be happier after he has some dinner.” Which he should get back to, because maybe if the birds had been fed already, he would not have pecked at Gladio. They were lucky it hadn’t drawn blood. He grabbed a serving of greens and placed it in the bowl at the chocobo’s feet. That should keep it occupied._

 

“ _You’re pretty good with those chocobos,” Gladio said as Prompto used the birds distraction to get its saddle off and give it a quick grooming. He couldn’t be as thorough as he was with the others, but at least he could make it more comfortable. Gladio moved closer to one of the birds that had already been fed and gave it a quick scratch under the chin. They did seem to respond well, all but the one. Maybe it was because he was the only one who took the time to work with them. Or maybe they just knew he liked them and responded well to that._

 

“ _You could probably make a living out of this,” Gladio continued thoughtfully. “You know, if the whole Crownsguard thing doesn’t work out for you.”_

 

“ _Yeah, right,” he said dismissively. Like he was ever going to abandon Noct to run off to raise chocobos. It could be fun, maybe for a little while, but since he never had any intention of leaving his position in the Crownsguard, he wouldn’t have to think about it too seriously._

 

_~*~*~_

 

There was a peacefulness to his daily routine that had been missing from his younger years. There were days out in the fields when he would miss the old camaraderie, of the taste of Ignis’ fresh cooking, of the four of them crammed into the tent with Gladio pressed a little too closely up against him, of Noct… well, just Noct. There was plenty of things to keep his mind occupied and his hands busy and very few distractions. The cell service was spotty when it even decided to work. He had no TV, no radio, there were no women around to distract him. Just him and the chocobos and the never ending list of chores.

 

At least now he could move on to fixing up the ranch. Like the broken stretch of fence he was working on. The entire fence needed replaced, so he just took it one section at a time. Once he was done, he could let the chocobos in that field and double their running space. The sounds of the hammer driving the nail into the wood echoed in his head, taking him back to another time. He couldn’t get lost there, too much for him to do now, but he couldn’t shake the memory of Gladio’s nails digging into his skin.

 

“Fuck!”

 

That was enough to bring him back to his current situation as there were no women in that particular fantasy. “Language,” he reminded her coolly as he picked up another nail and put it into place. “And hold the board steady or the fence is going to be crooked.”

 

“Who am I going to offend?” Illythia asked as she pushed the plank a little higher. “The chocobos? Even they’re too smart to come up here.”

 

He hurried up with the last two nails since something had to have provoked her outburst. But they couldn’t just stop in the middle of a job, and the sooner she learned that, the better off they would all be. He had been surprised when she had decided to stay, but it didn’t take much a genius to figure out that she was better off there than out on her own.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I stepped on a nail,” she said, surprisingly level for someone who should have been in excruciating pain.

 

“Where are your boots?” He glanced down at her bare feet. He knew he had asked Iris for shoes for her. Three times already. And yet somehow they never seemed to make it onto her feet.

 

“Back at the barn?” Which meant he was likely going to have to ask Iris to send him even more shoes.

 

“Let’s see it,” he said with a sigh. Maybe he could find something for her to do back at the stable and he could finish the fence by himself. She lifted her leg to put her bare ankle across the board they had just replaced, showing him the head of the nail that had gone clear through her foot. “Gross!” he said as he inspected the wound without touching it. He couldn’t just leave her to deal with it herself. He had treated worse for Gladio once upon a time. He could do the same for her. “Don’t you know to look before you step?”

 

“You know, that’s funny,” she countered from the other side of the fence.

 

“You can see better than some people I know.” She just didn’t like to pay attention, and she didn’t like to wear shoes which were a bad combination when it came to her feet. Although it didn’t look like the shoes were going to have helped in this particular instance, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. She would just take it as vindication and never wear shoes again. He also couldn’t do anything for her foot out in the field, so he was going to have to take her back to the stables to take care of her and then come back up here to finish the fence. Alone. In the dark.

 

“We have company,” she said, pointing behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see a chocobo returning to the stable with a rider on its back. None of the birds were due back for another day. They weren’t expecting any company. Whoever it was, it wasn’t anyone he recognized from that distance. He questioned how many of his old friends he would be able to recognize from a distance anymore. “Who is it?” Illythia asked, swinging her other leg over the fence so she was sitting on the top rail.

 

“I don’t know.” He didn’t like strangers around the birds and Behemoth had wandered off a few days ago. Probably to bring back more chocobos because the beast couldn’t quite understand the concept of limited resources. “But I think we should find out.” He stepped closer to the fence and turned around so she could climb onto his back. She couldn’t walk on that foot anyway, and if this stranger posed a threat, he would rather have her behind him. He wasn’t used to giving people piggy back rides, but how hard could it be? She was smart enough to hold on.

 

Once she was secure, he made sure Lionheart was ready in his hands.

 

“Whoah!” she said, nearly knocking him over as she leaned over his shoulder go get a better look. “That is so cool. How did you do that?”

 

“Magic,” he gave her the short answer. He could tell her more later, but right now he was more concerned with the stranger roaming around with his birds.

 

“Can you teach me how to do that?”

 

“We’ll discuss it later.” They were going to lose the element of surprise if she kept asking him questions. And they had never discussed that part of his life yet, and he didn’t yet know how much he was willing to share with her just yet.

 

It took longer than he anticipated to get the two of them down to the stables. All that time, someone was with his chocobos, probably scaring the poor little things out of their minds. But Illythia slowed him down, and he didn’t want to leave her behind in case there were others. He nearly dropped her twice and she tightened her grip around his neck, nearly choking him. The birds weren’t acting up when he approached the outside of the stables, so maybe they weren’t in that much danger. He made his way slowly inside, evaluating their visitor before she could spot them first. She stood next to the chocobo she had ridden on. She was small of stature and kind of on the thin side with blonde hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. She had a gun in the holster at her hip, but she had one hand on the chocobo’s bridle, and the other one was no where near the gun. Her boos were what interested him most, black with a barely visible red sole. Crownsguard issued, and new at that.

 

“Can I help you?” he asked as he stepped fully into the stable, his heart beating against his chest. Had Ignis or Gladio found him and sent that young woman with a message to him? If they hadn’t come themselves, it couldn’t be anything good. What if one of them had died? He hadn’t exactly been ready to say goodbye to either of them, not like this.

 

She spun around on her heel, keeping one hand on the chocobo’s bridle. She didn’t reach for her gun, so he set Illythia down on a nearby haystack. She would be safe for now.

 

“Are you Prompto?” she asked, and his heart dropped. She was here to tell him that one of them died. “Cindy said you might be able to help me.”

 

Cindy sent her. That explained why she had been able to find him. Either that or she had just refused to get off the chocobo when it was time for it to go home.

 

“What do you need?” he asked, making sure to stay between this new stranger and Illythia. He might have to talk to Cindy about randomly sending him complete strangers.

 

“Just a place to stay until I get back on my feet,” she said, trying to avoid direct eye contact with him. She was on the run from something or someone; he knew that feeling well enough. “I can work.. I can help with the birds, or hunt for food.”

 

“You don’t want to stay here,” Illythia piped up from behind him and he glared over his shoulder at her. “Look what he did to my face,” she said, pointing to the scar on her face.

 

“She was like that when she moved in,” he tried to reassure their visitor. He didn’t need her reporting back to Cindy that he was going around attacking people.

 

“But this is new,” Illythia volunteered, and he didn’t need to turn around to know that she was holding up her impaled foot. Technically, that was still her fault, although maybe he should have checked to make sure there were no nails scattered on the ground.

 

“I can help with that,” the woman said. She let go of the chocobo to edge past him and kneel in front of Illythia. She carefully picked up the girl’s foot and deftly pulled out the nail before breaking a potion over the wound.

 

“Why can’t we get these?” Illythia asked, flexing her foot experimentally.

 

“Because I’m broke,” he reminded her. Everything he had was tied up in the ranch, and with two of them, they were still falling behind on the work. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have a third hand around for a little while. “You can sleep in the loft,” he told their visitor.

 

“That’s my space!” Illythia protested.

 

“You’ll move in the tack room with me.” He might let her stay here, but he didn’t trust her to stay alone with Illythia. “But first you’ll have to tell me about those boots.” Either she had recently been in the Crownsguard, or she had taken them off of someone, alive or dead.

 

“They were issued by my last place of employment,” she said defensively. It had something to do with whatever she was running from, but he needed to know he could trust her. That she hadn’t killed someone to get those boots.

 

“Those boots are Crownsguard issued.”

 

“I was dismissed.” She spat the word like it had been a curse on her life.

 

“For what?”

 

“For inappropriate conduct with an officer.”

 

He remembered those rules all too well. They had almost cost him everything at one point. Technically, Gladio hadn’t been an officer, but as Shield of the crown prince, some higher ups had decided that was close enough. At one point, he thought Gladio’s precautions were unnecessary paranoia. He wouldn’t press her any further. She clearly hadn’t wanted to leave, and she had no where to go. He could give her space to heal. That was what she needed more than anything.

 

“You can just toss down the stuff up there. Make yourself at home.”

 

“Thanks,” she said as she moved past him towards the ladder. “I’ll go hunting for us in the morning to pay for my stay.”

 

“That’s not necessary,” he said, although it would be nice to have fresh food for a change instead of something that came out of a can. “We can talk about all of this tomorrow.”

 

She nodded at him before climbing up the ladder. It was only a few moments before she threw Illythia’s sleeping bag down to the ground level. She had her foot up on the haybale and was glaring at him.

 

“It’s not that bad,” he said as he went to gather up her sleeping bag. Besides, their new guest couldn’t stay forever. “Maybe you’ll learn some manners from having a polite house guest,” he muttered. Actually, he thought they were doing pretty well. Illythia was a fast learner and helped him get a lot done. They could be uncomfortable for a few weeks until Cindy’s friend was ready to move on with her life.

 

True to her word, their guest went out hunting on the first day. He had been a little startled to wake up and find her already gone, but Illythia was still snoring in the office so he didn’t have to worry that she had run off with her. He had only been half expecting her to return, and had went about his day like nothing had ever happened. The potion worked like a charm, and Illythia was more than willing to get back to work. Later that day their house guest returned, dragging a large unidentifiable animal carcass behind her. It was large enough to feed the three of them for weeks to come. Illythia stopped what she was doing to watch their houseguest drag the carcass by, her head perked up.

 

“What do you supposed she’s going to do with that?” she asked.

 

“Hopefully butcher it herself,” he said with a shudder as he tried not to think about it too closely. He preferred his food brought to him already prepared. He didn’t have the stomach for the rest. Gladio had tried to show him with something much smaller, and he had given up as soon as the knife had made the first incision. Gladio had declared him a lost cause and hadn’t tried again. Could have helped him earlier, but he had barely been comfortable with gutting the fish. How much easier would his life have been if he had just listened to the lessons that Gladio had been trying to teach him?

 

“Do you think she would teach me?”

 

It might not be a bad idea. She wouldn’t be around forever, and it would be easier and cheaper for them to prepare their own food then to order everything from Lestallum.

 

“Go ahead,” he told her, tilting his head towards the decrepit building their visitor had dragged the carcass into. He could finish feeding the chocobos by himself. Who was he to keep her from learning something useful.

 

She scampered off into the building. She was a fast learner, and the more she learned, the better off she would be. She could go do anything if it was ever safe enough for her to leave the middle of nowhere. Besides, it was nice to be just him and his thoughts again, even if it was only for a moment. He had so far managed to resist asking their visitor for news of the Insomnia. If she had been in the Crownsguard, she had probably come across Gladio or Ignis. And she wasn’t likely to be going back anytime soon.

 

He had only fed two more chocobos before Illythia was back, feeding the chocobo next to him.

 

“Are you done already?” If she was that quick she would have no trouble getting a job as a butcher just about anywhere.

 

“No, that was disgusting,” she said, focusing all her attention on the chocobo feed.

 

“Well, we’ll just have to stick to fish again once she’s gone.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Why don’t you two live in the house?” she asked over breakfast after she had been there for three weeks. She had kept up with the hunting and had even taken a few turns at feeding the chocobos. Which gave him time to start fixing the roof on the second stable. He wanted to make it habitable for the birds before the winter rains arrived.

 

The house she referred to was a boarded up two story building that sat a little ways behind the stable. Illythia had never bothered to ask about it. He had no idea what he would find inside.

 

“The two of you could have separate rooms again, and I could move into the tack room.”

 

“The house is off limits,” he told her. That would be going too far. He might end up learning too much about the people who had lived here before. “The owners might be coming back someday.”

 

“And you think they’ll be okay with you squatting on their land just as long as you leave the house alone?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

 

No, he didn’t. But he didn’t want to violate their privacy any more than he already had.

 

“I want in the house,” Illythia said. How could she possibly betray him like that? “What?” she said at his indignant look. “You snore and I want my own space back.”

 

“I do not snore.” Or at least, nobody had ever complained about it before. Gladio had certainly had plenty of time to mention it and he had never said anything. He needed to think about something, literally anything, else.

 

“We shouldn’t go in there,” he said again, because now he was too busy thinking about Gladio and what he was doing and what if a couple had grown old in there together and he would never get to see Gladio again.

 

“Oh, we’re going in,” their houseguest said, “and the two of you are going to be moving in.” She tilted her head back and downed the rest of their coffee. “I guess since you would rather sleep on the floor, Illythia gets first pick at her room.” She slammed her coffee mug down and disappeared out the door, Illythia hot on her heels.

 

He should stop them. He had envisioned a couple of fantasies about where the owners of this property were. Dead from the war. Taking refuge in the city and waiting for a safe time to return. But the light had been back for over eighteen months. If anyone was alive who wanted to come home, they would have been there by now. The heart could only bear to be apart for so long before it wanted to go home. Sometimes home wasn’t a place though; sometimes home was a time that couldn’t be rewound. He heard the creaking of wood as the plywood barricading the door was torn away and tossed carelessly to the side.

 

If they were still alive, they had moved on. He pushed himself to his feet and followed the girls inside the shattered front door.

 

“I’ll help you make a new front door,” she said as he looked dimly around the front entrance. The house wasn’t big, but he had no idea how he was going to fill in. A kitchen and small table to his left. A stairway with a moth eaten rug. A sitting room with a fireplace to his right. Everything was covered with a fine layer of dust and cobwebs. Whoever had lived here had left nothing of themselves behind except the furniture. Good. He didn’t need any more ghosts added to his own.

 

“Illythia’s upstairs picking out her room.” He still wasn’t sure he would be sleeping there. He liked to be close to the birds. Their guest disappeared into the sitting room and emerged a moment later with an old radio. “Look what I found. I can probably fix it up. Having some music in here will definitely make it feel more like home.” He doubted that, but she was more than welcome to try to fix it for her own entertainment.

 

Illythia thudded down the steps, skidding to a halt at the bottom. “This place is awesome! I’m going to go get our stuff.” She darted out the door before he even had a chance to answer her.

 

“See, she likes it,” their guest said, placing the radio down on a book shelf just inside the door. “Must be hard, being a single dad out here all alone with a daughter.”

 

“Oh, she’s not mine,” he quickly corrected her. Even if she was young enough to be his, which she wasn’t, he wasn’t even sure he would admit to it. Maybe all kids were like that and he was out of touch.

 

“Oh. Your girlfriend’s then?” she asked with a raised eyebrow even though they both knew that there had been no one else on the property since she had arrived.

 

“No,” he said before realizing a lie would be better. “She’s a friend’s.” Technically, Aranea had been a friend, and had been the one to drop her off. “Her parents died during the war.” Illythia had never mentioned her parents, but he could at least assume that much since she had been carted off to Insomnia as political fodder.

 

“And you just took her in all on your own? How noble of you.”

 

“Not really.” If he had any sense of honor, he would still be back in Insomnia keeping his promise to Noct. Helping to take care of one Lucian orphan was hardly doing his part to rebuild the future.

 

“This is the best!” Illythia declared as she burst back in with a box that she dropped at his feet before darting back out. She had just grabbed a few things around the tack room and thrown them on top of the box with Cindy’s stuff. He really should send that back to her.

 

On top of the box was a photo he had kept of the four of them together, before everything had gone so wrong. He bent down to retrieve it before she could damage it in her enthusiasm. His younger self stared back at him, next to Noct, Ignis and Gladio.

 

“What’s that?” their guest asked, trying to peer around his shoulder.

 

“Just an old photo of me and my friends.” If he wanted to know if she had any news of Ignis and Gladio, he might never get a better opportunity to find out. He carefully handed the picture over to her so she could have a closer look. She took the photo away for inspection, and he watched her face carefully for any change. Any indication that she recognized any of the people in it.

 

“Isn’t that nice,” she said turning her back on him. “It should go above the fireplace.” She quickly made her way into the other room and deposited the photo on the shelf. “Looks nice there,” she said as she came back in, wiping her hands on the front of her pants. “I think I’m going to get some target practice in while it’s still light out.”

 

“It’s morning,” he pointed out to her.

 

“Well, you know, can’t waste any time,” she said, her voice taking on a distressingly high pitch. She sauntered out the front door before he could say anything to her. They had set up a shooting range with some cans towards a back fence since they didn’t want to disturb the birds, but she hardly ever used it because she didn’t want to waste the bullets. She usually borrowed one of his guns for target practice so she could save her limited bullets for hunting. She had definitely seen something in that picture, but hadn’t offered up information. Was Ignis the one who had dismissed her? Did she have some sort of run in with Gladio? Were they both dead and she just didn’t have the heart to tell him?

 

The first gunshot cracked and he flinched, pulling out Lionheart reflexively. The shooting range must have been a good deal closer to the house than he imagined, or the sound carried well.

 

Illythia jumped down the stairs and rushed to his side. “What’s going on? Are we under attack?”

 

“Everything’s fine,” he reassured her before doing a double take at the wrench she held at her shoulder like she was ready to attack something. “You brought a wrench to a gun fight?”

 

“It was the first blunt object I could find,” she said, lowering the wrench to her side. It must have come from Cindy’s box, that he should really think about sending back to her. “You won’t let me have anything sharp.”

 

“Because you keep getting hurt,” he told her before three more shots rang out. She did have a small point. If they ever did come under attack, she really should have some way to defend herself. Their location was no longer as secret as he had once believed. They might be in danger. “I have a few contacts.” A couple people among the hunters who could be trusted. “I’ll try to get you a dagger.”

 

“Ooh, a dagger. That will be real good in a gun fight,” she said sarcastically, dropping the wrench back in the box. “I want something bigger.”

 

“You can get something bigger once you prove to me you can handle the dagger.” The gun fired six more times in rapid succession.

 

“She seems upset about something,” Illythia commented.

 

“She’s fine.” He had been hoping for some sort of reaction from her, but he hadn’t been expecting anything quite at this scale. She had appeared calm when she had looked at the photo, but that was the only thing he could think of that would have set this off. She was exterminating her tin can targets with what sounded like extreme prejudice. Another four shots were fired and he cringed. What if she decided to take that aggression out on the two of them?

 

“I’m just going to make sure the chocobos aren’t scared of the noise,” he stammered before making his way out the door. The more distance he put between him and someone who was shooting, the better off he would feel.

 

“Are you sure you’re not just afraid of her?” Illythia asked as she followed him down to the stable.

 

“No, I-- I’m just giving her some space to work out her feelings.” Besides, it was time to get started for the day, and he was sure there were chocobo requests waiting to be fulfilled.

 

“Behemoth is back,” Illythia pointed out to him, and he found the large chocobo shepherding three young ones. “And he brought babies with him!” Great, just what he needed, more chocobos for him to train. “Can I name them this time?”’

 

“Fine, but don’t name them anything stupid like fluffy.”

 

“Coming from the man who has one named ‘Chocoboo.’”

 

“Hey, she is precious and her name is perfect.” Not that he had named her. He kept the names of the original four he had gotten from Wiz. He wouldn’t trade her name for anything in the world. Or at least anything that was attainable.

 

“If you say so,” Illythia said as they went to inspect their new arrivals. “What if I call one Floofy?”

 

~*~*~

 

The rains would be coming soon, but he finally had the second stable thatched up so the excess birds could move in. Since the days were shorter, they spent their evenings inside around the table. Their houseguest had some interesting stories to tell. He could probably top them if he really wanted to, but he wasn’t ready to share them. So he sat next to Illyhia at the table and listened for any clues about Gladio or Ignis. She was as careful with what she withheld from them as she was free with what she was willing to share.

 

He kept trying to tell himself that he didn’t need any information about them. That if something pressing had happened, Iris would find a way to get in contact with him. He shouldn’t burden her with

his problems when she clearly had enough of her own. So, he would avoid asking her questions and after everything was done for the day they would sit around the table drinking hot chocolate and listening to the radio she had successfully patched.

 

Illythia and their guest were discussing something quietly, but he was too tired to listen to them. He was sure he didn’t need to be involved, and there was a song on the radio that he remembered from one of their long trips in the car. He could have fallen asleep right there at the table, sure that the other two would be able to handle anything that might come up.

 

“This is an emergency broadcast,” the radio announced, and he perked up a bit while the other two fell silent. They needed to be prepared in case it was something that might affect them. “The city of Insomnia has been attacked.” His heart dropped in his chest. “Multiple casualties have been reported.”

 

“That son of a bitch!” their housegust said, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands down on the table.

 

“The city...”

 

“ _Stay.”_

 

“...attacked...”

 

“ _Please, Gladio, I need you.”_

 

“...casualties...”

 

“ _I can’t do this without you.”_

 

“Prompto? Prompto, are you okay?”

 

The room gradually came back to focus in front of him. Their visitor’s knuckles were white from where she pressed them against the table. Illythia had one hand on his arm, leaning closer towards him. “Prompto?”

 

“I’m fine,” he said, waving off her concern. At some point the radio had switched back to music. “Just memories.” They couldn’t hurt him anymore.

 

“I still have friends back there,” their guest said through gritted teeth. “I could have helped them.” She shook her head and he could tell it was costing her a great effort to hold back her tears. “I left so I wouldn’t have to see that asshole’s smug face every day and apparently I didn’t get far enough.”

 

“Gladio?”

 

“I’m guessing he has a type.”

 

“Illythia, go to your room.” For once she didn’t argue with him, maybe she had finally learned to read a room, but she slipped out of her chair and thudded up the stairs. Which meant she was probably trying to eavesdrop, but he didn’t have the heart to try to stop her. “Why did you leave?” he asked her softly. Clearly it had not been an easy decision for her. It must have been as difficult for her as it had been fro him, only for different reasons.

 

“I told you, I was kicked out of the Crownsguard by that jackass for improper conduct with the other asshole,” she said, jerking her head towards the picture laying on top of the fire place.

 

“You didn’t have to leave Insomnia just because they kicked you out of the Crownsguard,” he pointed out. He had technically still been a member when he left.

 

“I honestly thought he loved me,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. ”When they kicked me out of the Crownsguard, I thought at least we would still stay together.” Obviously that had not worked out in her favor. “So I gathered my things and went to his quarters. He was with someone else when I got there.”

 

“I’m sorry. He didn’t used to cheat.” Not before he had asked him to. Shit, he hadn’t asked him, he had begged him and now Gladio didn’t have a problem with it.

 

“It’s not your fault.” But it was, even if he couldn’t explain to her how. If things had been different, Gladio would have married that other girl and spared them all the trouble. “I’m sure he screwed you over too. Isn’t that why you’re here, out in the middle of nowhere?”

 

Not really, but he didn’t want to go into it with her. Besides, it didn’t matter, not if Gladio was among the casualties. Iris would tell him if something had happened. Wouldn’t she? 

 

“I think I’ll head out tomorrow. Might head back to the city; see if any of my friends survived.”

 

“Take one of the birds,” he told her, unable to ask if she would check on his friends for him.


End file.
